We were strangers in a known land. A land we used to know. A land we thought we knew. We step along the cobbled streets, disdainful eyes stare on, watching fugitively. But we walk on. We walk with our heads held up and our hands held together. I know what they think. I know. The only sign I give of this scorn we receive are in a few quick looks I give my husband.
The clouds are still gloomy overhead. They have been that way since we landed and arrived. They, too, see to criticize our relationship, our love. I suppose we are just outsiders, desperate for a taste of home. It's sad to me. I once walked these roads with laughing friends, now the streets are bare; just me and him. I once dreamed that I would walk these streets as the people stood, honoring their hero, now I hear a door slam behind me; these people hate me. I'm not their friend, I'm not their hero. I could be. If I let the man beside me go. If I get rid of him and send him to the streets where they think he belongs. But I could never do that.
I let my thoughts drift, ignoring the faces that disappear when I glance their way. Ignoring the fact that they reappear when I'm not looking. I wander to the past. When I got my first look of disappointment. It was from my two best friends. I thought they would be understanding, that they would learn to live with my decision of marrying this man. But they didn't. They just shook their heads sadly, turned, and left me, tears brimming in my eyes.
Nobody ever liked my lover. He was an outcast. A stranger in exile. But I loved him anyway and so I became an outsider quickly. I would never be able to forget the whispers and the rumors that soon followed me like a shadow. I was once a celebrated champion, loved by many. But not anymore.
Knowing the rumors, knowing the stories, knowing the tales, we left. We packed our things and left Europe altogether. We found a new life in America where our culture was rich as well. We weren't well known and so we lived out our lives like any other couple, like a family.
But still, the ghosts of our past still haunted us. We still had the memories. We still had the nightmares. We still had the scars. It had only been a year since we moved, but we still had things to settle. We both had things that needed to be done, that needed to be said to end our suffering. The darkness that followed us needed to be cleared. And so we came back. We came back to find what we were looking for.
I give my husband a quick smile and he returns it with a pursed one. Despite everything, despite the retched hate that will never stop, our love will never end. We will rid the traces of regret, of evil, from our memories and finally know that everything will be okay. We will finally be able to live peacefully without having to be scared.
I know we walk in a land we used to know, but soon it shall be forgotten. We will once again be strangers in a known land.